Imminent Death
by Noxeno
Summary: The end of the world has come, and Roxas is feeling frightened and alone. He would do anything to stay alive, even if it meant siding with the ones who ended everything. But will he survive the initial attack? Akuroku AU


The end of the world came today.

And to tell you the truth, it wasn't so bad.

* * *

You probably have had your own ideas about how it would happen. Some people believe that the powerful countries would start a nuclear war, others that over population would break us. Many talked about the Apocalypse. A handful of the old, the crazed and the young would tell you that aliens would be our demise. If you're like myself, then you were one of us who thought that the end would come in another five billion years when the Sun died out.

But, oddly enough, none of the relatively sane theories turned out to be true.

It was a completely normal day. I woke up, showered, ate breakfast and was off to wander around aimlessly until my first class at the university. Hell, the sun was out today, the sky was blue and everybody was in a damn fine mood. Though, that all started to change when _it_ began.

I was walking through the city when the first reports of it began. I happened to be in front of some electronic store, Radio Shack or Future Shop or something along those lines, and it had some televisions in the front window. All of them were on different stations; sports, weather forecast, soap operas, reality shows, cartoons, news and some shows in different languages. When I took the time to blink, the screens were all the same. The news.

Surprised by that, I popped out an earphone to listen to what the reporter had to say.

"_--orts of strange activities have been described all around the world. These happenings seem to be occurring in heavily populated areas. Officials have no ideas as to what is causing these incidents, but they do believe that they are all connected. A few sources state that something seems off with the sky before any of these occurrences, but this has not been confirmed yet. Stay with us to find out about the latest updates first."_

As they paused for some commercials, I finally noticed that I was completely surrounded by a crowd of about thirty people or so. There was no escaping the fearful looks and terrified whispers. They smothered me, and I found it hard not to break down right then and there.

Mumbling 'excuse me' and 'sorry' here and there, I pushed my way out of the crowd and ran down the street, not daring to stop. Because, if I stopped, those murmurs and hushed words would catch up with me, and those tear streaked faces... They would finally cause me to believe that it was the end.

And there's nothing I can do to stop it.

So I ran.

* * *

I ran, without once looking back. Looking back would be a sign of weakness, as if I were giving in. And I certainly wasn't about to do just that.

Ignoring the fact that I had left the city border over a mile ago, I kept pushing on. My body was starting to shut down, it's need for air and water too great to fight off any longer. The tired muscles of my legs finally gave out, and I found my self on my hands and knees soon enough, gasping for air. My whole body quivered, and I let my head fall to the grassy ground. A small break couldn't hurt, it is the end of the world for crying out loud.

Faintly, I could hear a sort of choking noise, like when a child's terrified and they try to be brave. Only this time, the child was me, a frightened eighteen year old. And there's nobody around to comfort me.

I don't know why this event was stressing me so much. I mean, two years ago, I was wishing with all my heart that something like this was happening, just so I wouldn't have to awake to another day of pain. And now, now that I've had help that changed my outlook on life, now that I want to succeed in my future years, now that I'm actually a "normal" person, it's going to be ripped away from me?

Well, ain't this is peachy.

Opting to sit back on my butt instead, I stared up at the sky. It had grown slightly darker since this morning, having a sickening greenish gray tinge. Scanning it, bits and pieces of the news report came back to me.

"_--strange activities have been described all around the world." _Perfect._ " --Officials have no ideas as to what is causing these incidents," _Great."_A few sources state that something seems off with the sky before any of these occurrences," _Fantastic.

Life sure is crappy.

Not to mention the last memory is causing me to panic. But you would too, if you were here and watching the clouds change hue and form these weird patterns. I'm not quite sure if it were my imagination, but a few of them seemed to separate, and something else seemed to be behind it.

What the hell is that?

Rising to my feet, I squinted up at the thing. It was... Heart shaped? For coloration, it resembled the moon, but size and form? No. The hell is it?

A sense of dread washed over me, and I felt my face go cold. The only thing I could think of was to get out of there.

So I ran.

I ran, knowing that I couldn't escape, knowing that I would die today. A sharp buzzing sound had commenced slightly after the appearance of the heart moon, and it grew louder and more frantic. All life around the area had fled, no birds chirping, no rustling of the bushes and trees from squirrels and rabbits, nothing. There was only that sound, piercing through my ear drums like a hot knife through butter.

And then, there was nothing.

The smell of smoke hung in the air, and flames crackled somewhere nearby. The wind whipped through trees and crevices, causing a soft whistling to blow by.

My first thought was: Why haven't I died yet?

I didn't get it. By rights, I should be dead right now, like those other cases. So why wasn't I?

Opening my eyes, I surveyed the surrounding area. Was this actually where it had happened? It looks so different... The sky was red and gray, the grass browned or missing.

After a few moments, a sharp pain shot through me. Grunting, I tried to get up off my stomach to see the injury, but I couldn't. Moving my arm, I felt my knuckles scrape tree bark. Again, I tried to right myself, but couldn't manage to do anything.

Argh, this freaking hurts!

I don't really remember much before everything turned black once more.

* * *

Something cold, wet and quivering woke me up. It could have also been the tongue that was licking the side of my face so intently.

Opening my eyes, I was met with a mass of red and white fur, and these bright blue eyes. The large dog barked as I made a feeble attempt to push it away. It's barking was never ending, and I almost tried to kill it just to stop the headache I had from getting worse. But, you know, you're really in no position to try to do anything when you're pinned under part of a tree.

"Reno! Come Reno!"

Was that what I thought it was?

The voice of another person? Another survivor?

Coughing, I tried to call out for help, yet to no avail. My throat was too sore to let any sound pass. I could only pray that this dog, Reno, would stay here instead of following his master's command.

Reno barked a few more times, as if he knew that I was in need of help, before howling. Crap, if I didn't know any better, I would think he were a wolf. Well, maybe he is... Like I actually knew, it's more of an assumption.

I could hear footsteps getting closer, but I could also feel myself starting to slip out of it again. If only I could hold on for just a bit longer...

"What are you doing over there for, Ree?" The foot falls were close, and the voice was definitely near. And masculine.

As my eyes were threatening to fall for the last time, I could see worn out, black boots directly in front of me.

"How many times do we have to go through this, Reno? The cleaning crew will have all the corpses gone by tomorrow, and they'll have fixed the forest. Nothing to worry your fluffy, little head about." The husky voice was so calm, as if he had done this before.

I could tell that he was on his knees now, most likely rubbing the dog behind the ears. And--

Wait a minute... Cleaning crew? What the hell?

Actually, I don't care right at this moment what's going on. I need help, and if I don't get it, I'm as good as dead. This guy is my only chance, and I'm not about to point fingers and let him get away.

With my last ounce of strength, I stared right up at him and forced out a pathetic whisper.

"Help... me..."

Radioactive green eyes snapped down to meet mine, surprise clearly written all over them. After that, I don't remember much. Just a voice very distant in the back of my head.

"Aw, hell."

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I've worked really hard on this, and I'd love some critiques or comments. c:

This is based upon a dream I had one night, where the world ended and I survived (along with a few other random folks). I was found by this man with a dog, and the rest will be told during the following chapters.

Chapter updates might be a bit slow, I'm a busy person.

Please read and review? Gah, I'm sounded desperate...


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